Moved from 14 plate 1.6 Elegance (37K, owned from new) to a new 17 plate 1.4 SE Sport today - thought it might be helpful to post a few initial thoughts.

Old

2014 Elegance 1.6, LED rear lights, spare wheel, race blue…much loved, 37K miles of absolutely stress free motoring (apart from a memorable hour or so driving round Paris)

New

2017 1.4 SE Sport, 18” Golus, sports suspension, smartlink, sunset glass, spare wheel, race blue.

New car was at the dock in January when I reserved it, and the only one with smartlink, spare wheel and sunset glass (which I wanted), but I wasn’t bothered about the wheels or suspension but they didn’t put me off.

Had to wait until today to pick up to make it work financially with the PCP with no extra to pay.

Differences...... 

Amundsen

so much quicker and easier to use, plus higher definition – wasn’t quite expecting to see so much change.  The old sat nav was the main reason I went for smartlink.

Like the way you can access albums by swiping left and right. Everything feels *much* snappier though.

Quieter

the 1.4 is barely audible compared to the diesel in my old car. Got quite used to the engine noise, and my wife has a GT86 so this new car sounds disconcertingly quiet.

Twice on the drive home I thought the start stop had kicked in at junctions when it was still running.

18" wheels and the ride

I was really concerned about this with the 18” wheels and sports suspension – this is the family car after all (wife’s car for mid life crisis moments).

I had read some reports on here and elsewhere about the 18” wheels and sports suspension that were concerning enough for me to worry about it for the last month or so.

However, it barely feels any different at all…honestly it is all no fuss and feels very, very similar. Wheels look nice though.

Seats

I liked the Alcantara in the Elegance, but these feel pretty good – certainly supportive and the lumbar support feels to have a little more range too.

Odd things

Auto dimming rear view mirror is much sleeker design

Glove box door is definitely not as sturdy (feels real flimsy)

Speakers / sound is a little better

The blanking plate for the headlight height adjustment wheel looks terrible

Only one hook in the boot (never used the two together in the Elegance, but still feel mildly cheated).

  

Am expecting 10-15mpg less, but the sums worked out pretty even as I will be under 10k miles a year.

Other than that it feels very much like business as usual but with updated tech and for much less £s per month! 

You only really notice the 18" wheels & sports suspension when driving on really bad roads, most of the time they make very little difference to the ride as you've commented.  They also make very little difference when cornering on rear torsion beam models, it really is a case of wanting them for their looks.

You haven't mentioned any difference in performance 

37 minutes ago, themanwithnoaim said:

You haven't mentioned any difference in performance 

 

Decided not to drive it too hard with only 9 miles on the clock! but honestly it felt pretty similar in low revs and driving sensibly - the little bit of dual carriageway I did you could feel that it had much more to give than the old car though....overtaking will definitely be an easier process I think.

 

I could have been happy with another diesel (although the lack of 6th gear on my 1.6 could be annoying at times), but my use/long range driving is slightly different for the next couple of years with fewer trips to London, so it had to be petrol this time around really.

1 hour ago, themanwithnoaim said:

You haven't mentioned any difference in performance 

I could not believe that the speed of the Amundsen got mentioned but not the car.

Our first test drive was hilarious because I gave it diesel welly to merge in with heavy traffic

3 hours ago, Chucker said:

 

Quieter

 

the 1.4 is barely audible compared to the diesel in my old car. Got quite used to the engine noise, and my wife has a GT86 so this new car sounds disconcertingly quiet.

 

Twice on the drive home I thought the start stop had kicked in at junctions when it was still running.

 

 

I've had this problem a few times. Occasionally the stop/start on my tsi (albeit previous gen engine to yours) has decided not to shut the engine off and I've not realised this - on dipping the clutch before seting off I've panicked a couple of times because I've not heard the usual starter noise. At tickover your hear nothing from the engine - if you listen carefully you can just about detect the tank fuel pump , or the car behind you!

 

Depending on your type of driving - hopefully you will be pleasantly suprised with the fuel economy - I was  Does like a drink if you cane it though 

 

Edited 22 March, 20179 yr by bigjohn